
i 



A COMPANION IN LABOUR. 



Rev. JAMES HARRISON DWIGHT, 



Englewood, N. J. 



& (JommnnopaHlip #prmon, 



DELIVERED IN THE 



ENGLEWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

December 15, 1872, 
By HENRY M. BOOTH, Pastor. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



NEW YORK: 

EVENING POST STEAM PRESSES, 41 NASSAU STREET, COR. LIBERTY. 



1873. 



" My brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger." 

Philippians II, XXV. 



The Apostle Paul was very fortunate in his friends. Their 
sympathy and co-operation increased his efficiency. Wherever he 
went on his missionary journeys, he either found persons kindly 
disposed, or else he won some few over to, himself, and left them 
to carry out his plans while he went on* to other places. Such 
men as the inquiring and devoted Aqi^ila and^he eloquent Apollos 
were very helpful in the Corinthian work. Titus and Timothy 
could be entrusted with metropolitan churches, and could properly 
represent Paul in large and important districts. Silas was an 
excellent traveling companion, steadfast, courageous and pru- 
dent. Epaphras, Tychicus, Epapliroditus, Erastus were faithful 
messengers to and from the churches. Luke, the beloved physi- 
cian, was a friend of dark and trying days — and so with many 
others of less note, who sustained the great apostle in the midst 
of his toil and suffering. Epaphroditus, of whom our text speaks, 
went to Eome from Philippi, during Paul's imprisonment, carry- 
ing with him a contribution in money from the church to the 
apostle. Paul speaks of him with peculiar affection ; calling 



s 



4 A Commemorative Sermon. 

him, as we have seen, his " brother and companion in labour and 
fellow-soldier"; and, referring to his sickness and recovery, says: 
" God had compassion on him, and not on him only, but on me 
also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow." It is not at all 
improbable that the very exalted piety of the Philippian church 
was due, in large measure, to the consecration and self-forgetful- 
ness of this man Epaphroditus. 

What was true of the great apostle, in his world-wide efforts, 
is true of every Christian worker in his more limited sphere. 
We all of us work with the labor of others. The common 
truths of the present hour are the truths which made famous a 
Newton or a Galileo. The sympathy and co-operation of others 
is also a part of our capital. We depend upon it more than we 
can realize. When there are good strong minds and generous 
hearts to support our efforts, we have no fear of ill-success. 
Often Christian work goes on, and these supporters fail to re- 
ceive the praise honestly their due. The heavy foundation 
stones are not noticed when the lighter columns and domes 
attract attention. Yet, in a careful estimate of the work ac- 
complished, the foundation is all-important. 

It was the chief honor of the friend, whose early death we 
mourn to-day, that, for so many years, he played the part of a 
"brother and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier" to this 
church and its pastor. And it is in remembrance of the honor 
he won for himself, and the help he afforded us by his kind and 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



5 



noble-hearted sympathy, that we now speak. He had rare en- 
dowments of mind, as we shall see ; his knowledge was very ac- 
curate and extensive ; bis culture the best afforded by the 
schools. Yet it is not on account of these things that we under- 
take to tell the story of his life, but rather that we may exalt 
his courage, and generosity, and faith, which made him very 
dear to those who knew him. 

BIETH. 

James Haeeisox Dwight was born on the island of Malta, 
October 9th, 1830. If a human life is at all affected by the place, 
or surroundings, of birth, then may we discover, in the history 
of this little rocky island, the spirit which was the life-long 
characteristic of this our friend. Malta, it will be remembered, 
was the home of the Knights of St. John, and the scene of their 
valiant defense against the mighty armaments of the Turks. 
Here, La Yalette, the head of the order, illustrated the efficiency, 
and value too, of chivalry, as an institution of the times. Ever 
since the spirit of these brave knights seems to linger about 
Malta. It is hard to walk the streets of its chief town, or even 
to ride at anchor in its harbor, without thinking of them. 

A spirit like this spirit of the Knights of Malta actuated Mr. 
Dwight, and had much to do with the success and disappoint- 
ment of his life. For he was ever to be found where he felt that 



6 A Commemorative Sermon. 

duty and honor called him ; and his position once taken, it was 
hard to move him or change his views. Prudent and conserva- 
tive men often thought him unwise, and sometimes dangerous, 
while he never questioned wisdom or danger in doing what he 
regarded as right. This spirit made him a bold and independent 
thinker, and a true soldier for his country. Yet when it was 
misunderstood, or improperly directed, it interfered with his 
worldly success. It is a sad confession to the weakness of human 
nature, that a spirit, so chivalric, meets with less of a reward 
than one more cautious or time-serving. 

The mother of the little boy had been left alone by her husband, 
who, in company with Dr. Eli Smith, had gone to Armenia, Syria, 
Persia, and Georgia, on a tour of exploration. It was not until 
the child was nine months old that the father saw him, and then 
he had to look through the gates of a quarantine, where he was 
confined, and see those he loved standing at a distance from him. 
The mother held up the boy to the fond gaze of his father, but 
neither were allowed to approach the quarantine. 

PAKENTS AND HOME. 

The parents of Mr. Dwight were most excellent people. His 
father, the Eev. H. G-. 0. Dwight, D. D., was descended from the 
family of Dwights, which, in its different connections, or 
branches, has furnished a great deal of valuable thought to our 



A Commemorative Sermon. 7 

country. He was a missionary, laboring in Turkey, with his 
home for many years at Constantinople. Dr. Dwight was killed 
in a railroad accident, while on a visit to America, some ten 
years ago. His attainments and wisdom did much to promote 
the cause of Christ along the Bosphorus. 

Mrs. Dwight was the daughter of Joshua and Euth Baker, of 
North Andover, Massachusetts. She was a woman of rare mind, 
but of greater piety. Her whole soul was absorbed in her love 
of her Saviour, and her desire to extend his salvation. Some 
idea of her religious devotion, and so of the influences surround- 
ing the boy Harrison, may be gathered from this extract, written 
by her own pen : ee A mother must be the model, and almost the 
only model of virtue and religion her children will have. She 
must be their teacher, their companion, their playmate, their 
nurse, and everything else. Her little ones must live in her pres- 
ence, from morning till night, whether she be sick or well. If 
she goes to the throne of grace, her children must be by her side, 
or her heart will be drawn away by the thoughts of their 
physical or moral danger." And again, on his fifth birthday, she 
writes : " Oh, if this could be his spiritual birthday ! He loves 
very much to hear the story about the marriage of the king's 
son, and the man who had not on the wedding garment." 

For seven years the boy, with other children added to the 
household, enjoyed this mother's care. Then she was stricken 
down by the plague, and passed away to the rest that remains for 



8 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



God's people. Some time before her death, in June, 1832, Dr. 
Dwight had removed his family from Malta to Constantinople, 
and there established his home. 

It is not hard to realize some of the features of home-life in 
Constantinople forty years ago. Missionary effort, and indeed 
European civilization, had scarcely begun to influence the people. 
Life was intensely Oriental, and the Christian home was made 
intensely Christian. An atmosphere of seriousness pervades the 
dwelling, for grave, earnest work engages its adult occupants. 
The languages must be studied, translations must be made, 
visitors received, churches and schools organized, sermons 
preached, and the many duties incident to pioneer work under- 
taken. The conversation at table and in leisure moments is 
largely religious or literary. The children pick up scraps of 
knowledge, as readily as they seize the crumbs from off the floor. 
Mrs. Dwight writes, in 1834: "I wish you could step into our 
room just now and see how literary we look. No less than three 
are studying the Turkish Grammar, and a fourth is teaching 
Armenian to a servant. * * * A change of circumstances 
obliges me to change speaking from Italian to Greek, and from 
this to Turkish, and to French, whilst, amid family duties." It is 
not surprising, that with such a training, our friend could speak 
the Turkish, French, German, and understand conversation in 
Armeno-Turkish and modern Greek, besides having the mastery 
of the classic Latin. 



A Commemorative Sermon. 9 

Our foreign missionaries have reared a very noble and intelli- 
gent class of sons and daughters. Notwithstanding the adverse 
surroundings of heathenism and false religion, there have come 
to this country from these distant lands some of the brightest and 
most cultivated intellects our colleges and seminaries have re- 
ceived. This is owing, in part, to the fact that remarkable men 
and women were sent by G-od on these first missionary expeditions, 
and, in part, to the influence of the home-life they organized. 
Did time permit, and the proprieties of the occasion allow, it 
could be shown clearly that the sons and daughters of these men 
of fifty years ago have brought as much credit upon their parents 
as the sons and daughters of an equal number of Christian pa- 
rents remaining in this country. 

BOYHOOD. 

Dr. Dwight, on the death of his wife, was obliged to send his 
children to the Kev. Mr. Powers, a missionary stationed atBroosa, 
in Turkey. These were sad days for the boy of seven, now quite 
able to miss a mother's tenderness, and to shrink from the disci- 
pline of a strange hand. He suffered much during this absence 
from his father ; and often alluded, in after life, to the agony of 
his soul in this bereavement. A second marriage of his father, 
in 1840, opened a new home for them all. Here they lived to- 
gether, receiving their education, until that saddest of all times in 
missionary experience came to the parents. The oldest boy — now 

1 I 



I 



10 A Commemorative Sermon. 

seventeen years — must leave his home and go alone to America to 
complete his studies. Understanding the perils of life to a young 
man among strangers, far away from home, it requires a strong 
faith to make one resigned to such a separation. But it must be 
made ; and so, with many prayers and counsels, the Oriental- 
American lad, far more of a Turk in manner than an American, 
is sent out into the world. 

AMERICA. 

We have no means of knowing when this life, in which we are 
now interested, became a Christian life. It seems probable that 
the religious experience was gradual in its manifestation, and was 
not accompanied by anything startling or even marked. There is 
good reason to believe, also, that this important change had oc- 
curred before the departure from home ; for there is evidence that 
a controlling purpose directed the entire subsequent life. 

The next few years may be passed over rapidly. On arriving in 
this country, Mr. Dwight went to Williston Seminary, at East 
Hampton, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1848. Thence 
to Yale College, graduating with the class of 1852. Letters from 
Ex-President Woolsey, the late Prof. Silliman and Prof. Dana 
bear witness to his gentlemanly bearing and excellent scholarship 
during his college course. 

From 1852 to 1855 he was in Union Theological Seminary, 
New York, pursuing, at the same time, some medical studies in 



T 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also acted as pri- 
vate tutor in the family of Mr. Philip Tillinghast, then resident 
in New York. 

At the close of his seminary course he was licensed to preach 
the Gospel by the Fourth Presbytery of New York, and in the 
same year (1855) he was married to Miss Susan E. Schneider, 
daughter of the Eev. Benjamin Schneider, D. D., of Turkey. 

He continued his work as tutor in Mr. Tillinghast's family, his 
wife acting as governess. They were then living in Newark, New 
Jersey, and Mr. D wight was accustomed to attend medical lec- 
tures at the Twenty-third street College, going to New York 
every day. He finished his course in 1857, but did not take a 
diploma for want of the formality of one year's previous registry 
as a medical student under some physician. He had some prac- 
tice, however, among the poor of the city, as is customary with 
medical students. Thus educated in two professions, and remark- 
ably gifted in the natural resources of his mind, he was prepared 
to carry into execution his cherished plans of life. But still he 
waited, that the plans might mature a little more, and that he 
might receive the assistance of his brother William, a student of 
the Scientific School of Yale College. 



12 A Commemorative Sermon. 

CHEERY VALLEY. 

The financial troubles of 1857 interfering with the prospects of 
his undertaking, he did not make them public at that time. In- 
stead, he accepted an invitation to supply the Presbyterian Church 
of Cherry Valley, New York, and, receiving ordination of the 
Fourth Presbytery in the Madison- Square Church, he went to his 
first ministerial work. Those were happy days for Mr. D wight, 
the clouds of disappointment, which afterwards gathered over 
him, had not then appeared. 

Cherry Valley, in Otsego county, is one of the most beautiful 
towns in the whole State of New York. The region about 
abounds in interesting geological formations, so that here Mr. 
Dwight had a rare opportunity to indulge his taste for the natu- 
ral sciences, which amounted with him to a passion. I am told 
of his enthusiasm on discovering certain fossils, and he himself 
has described the remarkable exhibitions of geological strata he 
found in that valley. The people of his charge, too, were very in- 
telligent, cultivated families, who had always resided where 
their ancestors had first settled. There was everything in this 
life to interest a mind like his ; and we almost wonder that he 
should have left it so soon. But the cherished life-work must be 
undertaken. He had purposed to do something for the land 
whence he had come ; and that purpose must be put into execu- 
tion. So, in 1858, we find that he bids good-bye to Cherry Valley 
and settles for the winter in New York. 



J 

A Commemorative Sermon. 13 

THE COLLEGE. 

It has hardly escaped notice that the training of Mr. Dwight 
in two professions must have had a special design. That design 
now becomes manifest. The need of a college for the Turkish empire 
and surrounding nations had long been felt by the missionaries in 
the East, and by all intelligent travelers. Enough had been done 
by the direct efforts of missionaries, and by the Crimean Tar, to 
disturb the stolid indifference and positive hatred of the '-.toman 
government. Turkey had begun to wake up and look around at 
the signs of the times. Many young men of the empire had gone 
to Europe to study, and many more had entered the Roman 
Catholic schools established in Turkey under French auspices. 

Mr. Dwight and his brother aimed to open an institution un- 
sectarian in spirit, but entirely Christian. They would introduce 
English and the English classics to the Turks. They hoped in 
time to have a large, self-supporting institution, with a curricu- 
lum not unlike that of our leading colleges. The idea was a 
grand one, and the details of the plan were faithfully presented. 
It should be remembered that this enterprise was ahead of the 
other college enterprises Avhich have since become influential and 
useful in missionary lands. 

Fortified with credentials from the officers of Yale College and 
Union Theological Seminary, and earnest letters from such Orien- 
tal scholars as Dr. Hamlin, Dr. Dwight, Dr. Goodell and Dr. Schauf- 
fle, and having enlisted the sympathies of Hon. Gr. P. Marsh, late 

1 



14 A Commemorative Sermon. 

United States Minister to Constantinople, the two young men 
called a meeting of leading clergymen and philanthropists. Mr. 
Marsh was present, and lent his knowledge of Turkish law to the 
new project. There seemed to be considerable interest aroused, trus- 
tees, even, were elected, when suddenly certain questions of import- 
ance led to a disagreement. The movement was arrested, and very 
soon word came from Constantinople that Dr. Hamlin had been in- 
cited to open, and manage, a college on the shores of the Bosphorus. 
We have nothing to say as to the merits of this case. It is not 
for us to locate the blame of this disappointment. It was a dis- 
appointment hard for any one to bear, and especially hard when 
it interfered with the plans of many years. Mr. D wight never re- 
covered from this disappointment. It tinged his whole subse- 
quent life, and often found vent in sarcastic or bitter remarks. 
Had he gone to Constantinople, as the head of a college, he would 
have exerted a great influence. He was emphatically a student 
and a teacher. He loved study; he loved to teach. It is no dis- 
paragement of the honored president of Robert College to say 
that Mr. Dwight, at the head of the same institution, would have 
been respected and loved all through the Turkish empire. 

Disappointed and feeling hard, he settled down with nothing 
whatever to do. The prospect before him was dreary enough. He 
had no means of support, except such as his own talents could 
afford him. He had tried the world, and had not succeeded in 
his trial. 



A Commemorative Sermon. 15 

At this juncture, in 1859, he was invited to assist in the forma- 
tion of a new settlement back of the Palisades. 

ENGLEWOOD. 

Within a few miles of the great city of New York a large tract 
of land was lying idle, and was practically of little value. One 
main road, running from Hoboken to Piermont, and so north, was 
dotted here and there by simple farm-honses. The farmers raised 
their vegetables and other products, and carried them on their 
own wagons to the city by night, where often they sold them from 
the wagons in the early morning, and returned by noonday to 
their own homes. They were an industrious, honest and frugal 
people. While, on the other side of the river, a large population 
had settled, and land was held at a high valuation, here the popu- 
lation was very sparse and land was very cheap. A railroad made 
access easy, and people began to move out from the city, especi- 
ally from Brooklyn. They came for relief from city cares ; for 
health ; for the pleasures of a country life. There was no for- 
mality ; on the contrary, in many things, there seems almost to 
have been a community of goods. The region was fresh and in- 
teresting. The whole slope of the Palisades was to be explored. 
Eoads must be built, timber felled, houses erected, gardens made, 
a church and school organized. Mr. Dwight came into Engle- 
wood, for this was the name given to the new settlement, at a 

I 



i6 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



meeting of which he was chairman. He came to attend to the 
spiritual wants of the valley, and also to be interested in things 
temporal as well. It was a very hard position to fill ; and it is not 
at all strange that many infelicities arose, and some things oc- 
curred to diminish the ministerial influence of Mr. Dwight. For 
no man can preach with power to an audience with whom he is 
living on terms of the utmost familiarity, and with whom he is 
engaged in the ordinary traffic and business of life. 

Through the kindness of the native inhabitants of the valley, 
religious services were held, for a while, in private houses. Soon, 
however, the late Mr. James W. Deuel completed a school-house, 
and invited the little congregation to worship in its large room. 
Here all, of every sect, gathered each Sabbath, and united in the 
service, which Mr. Dwight led. In March of 1860 the chapel 
was completed, and he preached a dedicatory sermon from the 
text — 

" My name shall be there." 

In May, a religious society was formed, and in June, by a unani- 
I mous vote, the society was placed under the care of the Fourth 
Presbytery of New York. On the 13th of June Mr. Dwight was 
called to the pastorate of the new church, and, on the 20th of the 
same month, he was installed. 

While everything seemed to be brightening again, he was once 
more suddenly plunged into grief. For in February of 1860, his 
J wife was taken from him, leaving him to struggle on alone with 

1 



A Commemorative Sermon. 17 

an infant son, but a few days old. The sweet spirit of that 
sainted wife and mother still lingers about this place she loved. 
No one can fail to cherish her memory, when the words of affec- 
tionate respect from the people of her husband's charge are spoken. 
She must have been singularly pure and lovely to have left be- 
hind her memories which are so fresh among you even to this 
day. 

With his work of many kinds in hand, Mr. D wight could not 
be idle. He was much in the fields and in the woods. He 
visited every strange formation, gathered all the interesting 
flowers, made acquaintance with the birds, and insects, and ani- 
mals around him. You, who were early over here, know this ; 
and even those of us who came later can recall the walkiug par- 
ties, and the riding parties, and the picnics, where he was our 
cyclopedia. How often have you plucked some flower and hur- 
ried on to ask of him its name, or carried to him some fossil, and 
listened as he told you about it, or stood beside the great boulder 
and heard him spread before you the wonders of the drift period. 
His knowledge on these subjects seemed inexhaustible, and, for 
that matter, on every other subject, too. "What a companion he 
was ! How many anecdotes he had ! How much rare informa- 
tion ! How modestly he used it ! We think of it now with sad- 
ness, that we have lost from our community such a compendium 
of useful and interesting knowledge. 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



WAR 

In 1861, when the war of the rebellion was well under way, 
Mr. Dwight asked a furlough of his church that he might enter 
the army as a chaplain. The furlough was granted, and he re- 
ceived an appointment as Chaplain of the Sixty- sixth Begiment 
of New York Volunteers. He was with the Army of the Potomac 
under General McOlellau, through the experiences of Manassas 
and the Peninsula. He served under General Burnside; was 
at the second battle of Bull Bun, at Antietam, and Fredericks- 
burg. I am told that several complimentary notices for bravery 
were given him in general orders. At Antietam, by order of 
General Eichardson, he carried a dispatch to his regiment across 
a corn-field, where the galling fire of the enemy made life a very 
cheap affair. He acted in every capacity as occasion required. 
He was chaplain, aid-de-camp, and surgeon — each and all by 
turns. By nature he was very brave, and then, added to this 
natural bravery, was the chivalric spirit which made him a very 
Knight in battle. Yet so modest was he, in speaking about 
himself, that but few of his friends knew the story of his army 
life. It required many questions to draw from him even a little 
of what he did in this grand struggle for the nation's existence. 
Besides these direct and soldierly efforts, he labored for a long 
time in the Christian Commission, to relieve the wounded, and 
supplement the efforts of the Government. 



I 



I 



A Commemorative Sermon. 19 
RETURN. 

After eighteen months of service, the needs of his church com- 
pelled him to resign his commission and return to Englewood. 
I will not detain you by a minute recital of subsequent events up 
to the time of his retirement from the pastorate of our church. 
On October 18, 1865, he was married to Miss Josephine 0. Wilder, 
daughter of the late S. V. S. Wilder, Esq. In March of 1866, he 
was attacked with bleeding of the lungs, the beginning whose end 
we witnessed the other day. He was very much weakened by this 
attack, and for a long time was quite unfit for work. Still he 
struggled on, trying to continue as pastor of the church he had 
founded and loved. There were many discouragements. He was 
not naturally fond of pastoral work, and it became increasingly 
irksome to him. He enjoyed the quiet of the study, and would 
have been glad, so he told me, to spend his time there, and come 
forth only to preach. Of course such a thing is impossible under 
our present arrangements. So he felt it best, taking all things 
into consideration, to resign his charge and rest awhile. His 
resignation occurred May 1, 1867. 

It is thought to be a hard thing for a pastor to resign his pulpit 
and continue his residence in a village after his successor has 
entered upon his work — and indeed it is a hard thing — not one 
man in a thousand would have the nobility of soul to hold his 
peace under such circumstances; not one in five thousand would 



20 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



be noble enough to act a generous, sympathetic, out-spoken part. 
So many little things will provoke criticism, so many ill-advised 
remarks will stir up jealousies — the heart itself is so prone to 
envy — that we can scarcely conceive of a position calling for 
more charity and grace. Yet he was all that he should have been, 
and more — never, in all these years, while his dwelling was hard 
by the sanctuary, never has the present pastor heard from his lips 
one word even of criticism. On the contrary, from the first meet- 
ing, when he gave a warm grasp of his hand, to the last conscious 
interview, when he raised himself in bed and kissed my cheek, he 
has been "my brother and companion in labour and fellow- 
soldier." Was I sick ? Who more ready to preach for me than 
he ? Was I in search of knowledge ? Who more willing to be 
read than he ? Was I discouraged ? Who more earnest in 
holding up my hands than he ? On every special occasion he has 
borne a part, here in the sanctuary, and when some of you came 
to my dwelling last spring with words of love, you know better 
than I that his words were as earnest and sincere and affectionate, 
as were those of any whom God had permitted me to benefit. 
For this we cherish his memory. He exhibited a noble soul, and 
may the time never come to this church when his true brotherly 
kindness shall be forgotten. 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



21 



AFTER HIS RESIGNATION. 

After his resignation, he spent some months in general literary 
work, and in preaching as he had opportunity. In this way he 
served the First Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg, Pa., and 
the West Presbyterian Church, Dr. Hastings, of New York, be- 
sides many others. His preaching always attracted attention 
for its freshness and originality and independence. The remark 
made at his funeral, with reference to the interest taken by the 
Rev. Dr. Paxton, is a fair specimen of remarks which we, his 
friends, often heard. But still he did not secure an invitation to 
the pastorate of a church, and suffered all the time from the 
thought that men of less ability were sought, while his talents 
did not secure a market. About this time, he entered into the 
newspaper called the Church Union, now the Christian Union, 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, editor. He had charge of the scientific 
department, and was elated with the prospects before him. His 
friends rejoiced with him, for he seemed peculiarly fitted for such 
a position. He also wrote the scientific matter of the Independ- 
ent. We all of us hoped that these two connections would lead 
to something very advantageous. But disappointment met him 
here as before. One Monday morning he found a letter on his 
desk at the Christian Union office, informing him that his ser- 
vices were no longer required. He read the letter, went out upon 
the streets, walked off the bitterness of his disappointment, re- 
turned to his family, but neither by word nor look did any of 



22 A Commemorative Sermon. 

them imagine, for several days, how completely his prospects had 
been once more destroyed. The connection with the Independ- 
ent, less formal and secure, continued but a short time. 

Then came the matter of the Alcalde, where he expected to 
undertake the instruction and management of three boys at a 
generous salary. The plans were matured, and every thing was 
ready for the papers to be drawn and signed, when the Alcalde 
disappeared, and again, a new disappointment. 

Still he was hopeful — wonderfully hopeful. He would rise up 
from these repeated misfortunes, and enter into a new project 
with the most intense enthusiasm. This was characteristic of the 
man. We can say of him what Paul wrote of himself : " Per- 
plexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast 
down, but not destroyed." 

Only two weeks before his death, as he sat with both arms hug- 
ging a heating apparatus to keep warm, he told a friend of the 
oranges and almonds he expected to raise in California, while 
even then the hand of death was upon him. 

HARLEM CHI7KCH. 
One of the most pleasant connections of his life was that 
which he formed with a few earnest people in Harlem. He was 
invited over to preach in a hall to some families who were pre- 
paring to organize a new church. He went, Sabbath after Sab- 
bath, preaching with acceptance, and lending his experience to 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



2 3 



the formation of this enterprise. Asa proof of the interest of 
this people, the session of the church, on his decease, directed 
their pastor, the Rev. E. L. Clark, to express to the family of Mr. 
D wight their deep sympathy and profound respect, in a letter, of 
which the following is an extract : 

" Every member of our congregation feels a personal loss. He 
endeared himself by the remarkable gifts of his mind, which dis- 
tinguished him, to every one. He was so fresh and original, and 
still so affectionate and generous, that all seemed to have enjoyed 
and appreciated him, as much as if he had been the peculiar 
friend of each one alone." This Harlem church will, in time, 
become one of the strong churches of New York city, so th&t our 
brother will live and be useful in the good work he did there. 

PALESTINE EXPLORATION. 
His last official engagement was with the Palestine Exploration 
Society. He died as its general agent. For some years there has 
existed, among Christians in Great Britain, a Society for the 
Exploration of the Holy Land. Quite recently a similar society 
was organized in America. The country east of the Jordan — 
the unknown lands of Moab or Bashan, where the two and a 
half tribes of Israel settled — was given to the Americans as their 
peculiar field of investigation. A complete expedition must be 
raised, and equipped and supported, in order to meet the demands 
thus laid upon our nation and our church. Mr. D wight was 



24 A Commemorative Sermon. 

selected by the directors of the society as their agent* He de- 
voted himself with the most untiring industry, and his own en- 
thusiasm to this work, whose results will add so much to our 
knowledge of God's Word. All through the last summer, he was 
busy in searching after an engineer to command the expedition, 
in purchasing instruments, and in raising funds. The work was 
altogether too severe for him with his feeble health. The inten- 
sity of the summer heat, too, exhausted him. He lost strength 
month by month. We who watched him on his way to and from 
the city, can remember how sad a sight it was to see a man of 
middle life dragging about so diseased and weary a frame. Yet 
he did not despair. With all his other cares, he went in October to 
a distant part of Passaic County, and preached before the Presby- 
tery of Jersey City, of which he was Moderator, and even wished, 
I am told, to speak in the political campaign which was then in 
progress. We have no means of knowing what his own feelings 
were about himself, but to family and friends he always spoke 
of his weakness as overwork — nothing more. Yet even at this 
time he was coughing every night, and burning away with the 
consumptive's fever. 

On November 9th the chief of the Palestine expedition, 
Lieutenant Stever, of the United States Army, sailed on the 
steamer Celtic. Mr. D wight came home that day, aud began to 
yield to his disease. The pressure was off ; the reaction had be- 
gun. . He confessed that he was losing ground and must seek 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



2 5 



rest. Your tender sympathy for your former pastor and friend 
had already anticipated such a necessity, and had provided the 
means for a winter's sojourn in a warm climate. He was told of 
this, and was very mucli touched by such an expression of regard. 
Again and again he said, "This is very kind. I have no de- 
mands upon them. You do not know how nice a thing this is 
for them to do." He prepared for a journey to California. He 
had the refusal of rooms on the Ocean Queen, of November 30th, 
when a kind Providence interfered and kept him at home that 
he might die among those whom he loved. He was confined to 
his bed on the 20th of the month, and, rapidly sinking, he passed 
away to the land where there is no sickness, weariness, and no 
disappointment, as the sun of December 2d was sinking in the 
west. He said few last words, for he was too weary to talk. Yet 
he told me often of his love for you, his people, and for this 
church he had founded. His life needed no dying testimony. 
It was a Christian life. He loved Jesus, his Eedeemer, and that 
love fitted him to enjoy an eternal fellowship with Jesus in the 
skies. On Wednesday, the 4th of the month, we attended his 
funeral, and wept that we should see his face no more ; and then 
his own family bore his body to its resting-place in Elizabeth. 

Thus his life on earth is ended, and his heavenly life begins. 
The measure of the earthly life no man can estimate. If one 



26 



A Commemorative Sermon. 



lives to a good purpose, when he cultivates his own soul in the 
truth of God, then his life was pre-eminent ; if one lives to a good 
purpose, when he establishes churches and useful organizations, 
then he served his generation, for he did these things ; if there is 
a purpose in a life, which communicates good unto many others, 
even when they hardly realize it, then was his life full of pur- 
pose ; if there is dignity and honor in generous feelings, in forti- 
tude under trials and disappointments, in a meek acceptance of 
the fortunes of life, then was his career honorable. Many of us, 
and very many others, can saj', " We are better men and women, 
to-day, for having met and known Mr. Dwight." 

His religious faith and one controlling religious thought was this, 
the personal Jesus living and ruling in the human heart. He had 
little sympathy with dogma, as such, nor would he accept a doctrine 
simply because it was held, and expounded, by some great divine 
of the past. He felt that the want of humanity is Jesus. When 
Jesus, the Saviour and Lord of men, shall be brought into con- 
tact with every soul, and shall be cheerfully accepted by every 
soul, then society will be perfect, and not until then. This simple 
faith made him exceedingly catholic in his friendships. He 
mingled with ministers of every denomination, and was loved by 
all. It enabled him, too, to pursue his investigations of a scientific 
character in a true spirit. And let me say here, that he had long 
been engaged on a book, whose object was to show how Jesus, 
the personal Saviour, is indeed THE TR UTH, or how He can re- 



A Commemorative Sermon. 27 

concile the differences, on religions questions, of sincere and earn- 
est men. His faith was his comfort. He felt the friendship Of Jesns. 
It made him the joy of his home, the pleasant companion of our 
literary circles ; it buoyed him up ; it cast a sweetness and a 
gentleness over these latter days. It was a grand thought. It is 
the thought of Christianity ; the very marrow of the G-ospel is in 
that word Jesus, the man of Nazareth, the Son of God. I 
honor him to-day as " My brother and companion in labor and 
fellow soldier," but I honor more that glorious Jesus, who taught 
him to be reverent, and self-denying, and pure, and gave him 
aspirations after things unseen. 

How we shall miss him! It is hard to say farewell! "Very 
pleasant hast thou been unto me." In yonder seat, thou has been 
a kind and attentive listener to the truth of Gk>d; in yonder 
aisle, thou wast always ready with a word of sympathy and a 
friendly grasp of the hand ; in yonder dwelling, thou didst wel- 
come me and contribute to my weakness of thy strength ; upon 
these hills, thou hast walked with me, and together we have taken 
sweet counsel ; in our social circles, thou wast always interesting 
and instructive, and gladly would we sit at thy feet and receive 
thy words of wisdon ; in this pulpit, thou hast often proclaimed 
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and sent us away with 
new and better resolutions. But now we say farewell ! A little 



J 

28 A Commemorative Sermon. 

while, however, and, by the grace of God, we shall meet, never 
more to part. There, in the Celestial City, it will be yours to tell 
us of God's handiwork, as seen in the golden streets, and the 
pearly gates and the mansions fair and bright. 

Let us be of good comfort, therefore, and seek to enter where 
he has already gone. 



THE END. 



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